LIBERTY, NY — The last resident has left the Sullivan County Adult Care Center, also known as the Care Center at Sunset Lake, according to recent documents released as part of ongoing litigation over the facility’s closure. 

In an affidavit made by Jacquelyn Oakley, who served as director of admissions at the ACC, she revealed that there are no residents left at the facility and only 39 staff members. She said that this includes “at least a dozen” residents who were transferred after a New York State Supreme Court judge issued a temporary injunction stopping the closure of the facility while the lawsuit plays out.

“It is the finding of this Court that Petitioners have established a likelihood of success on the merits, irreparable harm and that a balancing of the equities favors the continuation of the injunction pending final submission and determination of the petition,” Judge Kevin R. Bryant wrote in his decision to continue the injunction.

The lawyer for petitioners in the lawsuit, Michael Sussman, is now arguing that the county, by not informing residents and their families about the injunction, is in contempt of court. One affidavit submitted from Brittney Siegel, an employee of the care center, says they were advised not to inform residents of the injunction. According to Siegel, the facilities administrator, Keyshawn Macharie, told them not to talk about the closure or the injunction.

“[The ACC] did not announce to residents or families that they had a choice of staying because the closure plan had been stayed,” Siegel said in her affidavit. “Mr. Macharie made clear that staff should NOT speak with residents or their families about the legal situation or advise them that a stay of the closure plan had been entered by a court. He told staff that they should not speak with anyone about the legal situation and should refer any legal questions to him. There was no facility-wide announcement of any sort about the stay. The pace of transfers out of the facility continued unabated until the last residents were transferred last week.”

Sussman believes that this is grounds for criminal contempt charges.

“Despite the Court’s entry of a [temporary restraining order], the transfer of residents proceeded, and the County intentionally prioritized emptying the facility over complying with the court’s orders,” Sussman writes in an affidavit. “This is simply unacceptable; indeed, it is contemptuous particularly when dealing with fragile and vulnerable people whose rights needed to be respected.”